Pile and pile driving



Jan. 19 1926.

I 4 1,570,404 A. G. ROTINOFF FILE AND- FILE muvme Filed Feb. 27 1924 heats-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

Mill

A. G. ROTINOFF PILE AND FILE DRIVING Filed Feb. 27, 1924 z Sheets-sheaf 2 INVENTOR.

' ATroRNEYa Patented Jan. 19,- 1926.

UNITED STATES v 1,570,404 PATENT orr es..

ALEXANDER GEORGIEVITCH ROTINOEE OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

PILE AND PILE DRIVING.

imam flledlebruaiy 27, 1324. Serial No. 695,547.

To all who-m it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER GEORGIEQ 'VITCH 'RoTINoFF, a citizen of Russia, resd ing at London, England, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in and Relating to Piles and Pile Driving, of whlch the followingis a specification.

' the shells. The concrete shell forming part piles.

of the present invention is sufficiently rigid to withstand without filling, the external pressure of the earth after the pile is driven.

According to thisinvention,a cylindrical or tapered hole-forming tool for piles is screw-threaded externally with a thread which is of considerably less vertical width than pitch. This tool may be. driven'withthe shell into theground by some means such as hammering, or jetting. Such -a screw-thread is' prefe'rably of small spiral angle and of an overall diameter which is not substantially greater than the diameter of the tool whereon it is formed. The tool is provided with this form of screw-thread in order that it shall descend with the shell into the ground'without any rotation save such as may occur fortuitously, that is tosay, without any rotation being relied upon to ensure such descent, for it is not intended to be inserted by the'rotary operation which is employed for screwing down What have heretofore been usually describedas screw- According to other features of this invention the tool aforesaid may be made hollow to permit the :upper portion ofthe tool to teribr, preferably at its centre of gravity; The'external screw-thread aforesaid may be formed'solid with the tool or by winding a rod helically upon the surface of the tool, for example in a helical groove upon the surface. The rod may be secured in place in any convenient manner, being, for example, bent into spiral form and screwed into the helical groove aforesaid.

longitudinally A particular advantage ofthis form'of 7 tool is that it can readily be withdrawn by an unscrewing motion, even though ithas been driven in by impact; the use of special lifting tackle, powerful jacks, steam hammers or complicated collapsible mandrels can thereby'be avoided, the rotary motion which gives the unscrewing movement being applied by any convenient mechanism, such as a turntable as ordinarily used for screwed piles, lVith any of the shapes of tool above described, the initial turning. movement releases the tool from the'shell, and greatly reduces the frictional grip onit, so that subsequent withdrawal is much facilitated.

This invention also comprises a shell or I casing which may be cylindrical or tapered and is formed internally, with a screwthread to receive within it a hole-forming tool that is constructed as above setforth andto engage the external screw-thread thereof- The depth of the internal screw thread is made substantially smaller than the projection of the thread of the tool, so-

that the main body of the shell is prevented from "coming into contact with the body of the tool even when pressure 'is exerted on the shell. The said shell or casing may be of any'desired length relatively to the tool wherewith it is used, and may be in one or more pieces if desired, and may be divided and transversely so that the separate, parts can be added whilst the shell is entering the ground. This invention also, comprises the combination of the shell or.

casing with the hole-forming tool as afore said. 1

"According to another feature of this in vention ashell or casing as above set forth may be provided on its external surface with recesses of such depth as to overlap the internal screw-thread radially of the shell;

such recesses maybe constituted by an ex- "terna screw-thread, and according to yet act as a guide for the hammer and to enable a driving impact. to be applied to its in-- The shell aforesaid .is driven into the ground by fitting the hole-forming tool into the shell, with any desired degree of tightness and driving these two parts together. The tool may be removed alone by unscrewing it from the shell, leaving the? shell in the ground to be filled with concrete to constitute a pile.

The advantage of providing the recesses aforesaid on the outer surface of the thin shell is that when the shell is in place the surrounding soil fills the said recesses. Similarly, when the shell is filled with concrete, the internal thread becomes filled with concrete and this internal concrete thread portion is separated from the external soil merely by-the thickness of the metal in a vertical direction. If the metal corrodes away the total drop which the pile can receive is limited to the thickness of the metal; this is of particular advantage in the case, for example, of tapered piles, since if they are made with the external surface smooth, the distanceJthrough which the pilefalls when the metal is corroded away is considerably greater, being determined fprincipally by the angle of the taper, the smaller tfzhiil angle the greater being the consequent ,This invention also comprisesa shell as above described which is formed on its outer surface with means, such as longitudinal projections, to afiord'a key engaging the ground in whichthe shell is inserted.

. These keys extend throughout substantially the entire lengthof. the shell.

-In a modified construction in which it maybe desired to rotate the shell for any purpose when in the ground, the shell and the tool as aforesaid may be provided with means for locking them so that they are rotatable together about their longitudinal axis.

In a further modification of the invention the tool and shell may be constructedto permit the same to be inserted into the earth by either impact driving or jetting. To permit this, the lower end of the tool or mandrel is detachable and may consist of a hollow or solid plug. When the hollow plug is in position, the pipe conveying the pressure. fluid used for etting, may extend through the lug and the lower end of the shell. On t e other hand when the tool and shell areto be inserted by impact driving, the solid plug may be employed at thelower end of the tool and a closed cap may be attached to the lower end of the shell.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a general View with parts broken away illustrating a tool and .shell in accordance with this invention;

Figures 2 and 3 show to a larger scale apart sectional elevation and plan respectively of a modified pile shell, of concrete or the like, and spaced positions of the main bodies of the tool and shell.

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view partly in section of the tool and shell shown in Fig. 1, and illustrating the manner in which the tool may be quickly detached and raised from the shell, after the latter has been placed in the earth.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the lower portion of a modified form of tooland shell employed in jettin Fig. "6 is a similar view 0 the same with a solid plug at the end of the tool and an imperforate cap at the end of the shell, which may be 'employedwhen the shell and tool are impact driven. V

Figs. 7 and 8 illustrate the application of this invention to a thin metal shell and the spaced positions of the two bodies.

Like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the drawings. i

Referrin'g first to Figures 1 and 4, the shell which is driven into the soil' is indicated generally by the reference 10. This shell may be madeof thin sheet-metal,

as indicated at 10 and 10 respectively in Figures 7 and 8, being as to its general shape either of uniform diameter, or preferably slightly tapered from its upper end; it may also be partly of uniform diameter and partly tapered, and may have its outer surface smooth, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4,

10. This tool is formed on its external surface with a single screw-thread 13 only of any desired shape and preferably of small spiral angle. This thread, as shown,

is of considerably less vertical thickness than pitch, for a purpose hereinafter described.- This screw-thread may be formed as illustrated inlFigure .8, by winding a rod 14 helically upon the surface of the tool 11 therod is preferably located in a groove 15 on the tool and is frictionally retained therein by any suitable means. Figures 1 to 7 inclusive illustrate tools in which the thread is formed integral with the tool. The screw-thread thus formed is of small spiral angle, and of an overall diameter which is not substantialy greater than the diameter of the tool wheron it is formed.

A single corresponding screw-thread or groove is formed on the inner surface of the shell as shown at 18 in Figure 2, and 19 in Figure8, so that the lower face of the screw thread of the shell engages the screwthread on the tool. The depth or depression of this groove is considerably smaller than the projection of the thread of the tools so. that this difierence prevents the bodies of the tool and shellfifronr coming into contact. In the case'of the thin metal shell illustrated in Fig. 8, the screw-thread 19 'is made of greater radial depth than the thickness of the material whereof thethread is made, for the purpose hereinbefore described, and the section of the thread of the shell, as shown in both Figure 2 and Figure 8 is larger than that of the. thread.

on the tool to afford space suflicient for the formation, 0f a concrete thread of correspondingly large section on concrete subsequently delivered into the shell, and for facilitating the initial unscrewing movement of the tool by lifting it a very little to decrease the friction. The parts of the body portion of the shell and tool between the threads are spacedapart, as shown at. 75 to reduce friction and permit the ready withdrawal of the 'tool. The said groove 18 in vertical .section, has a substantially horizontal lower surface 18 upon which the thread'13 of the tool rests while forcing the shell into the earth. The surface 18 of the groove, which is opposite the mouth of the latter, is substantially vertical and of greater height than the thickness of the thread 13 to permit the tool to be readily lifted relatively to the shell after they latter has been driven. From this it may be seen that the only points ofcontact between the tool and shell, will'be .at the lower surface and lower portion ofthe outer' surface of the thread. Consequently when the tool is to be withdrawmthere is very little friction to be overcome between the two bodies.

In the construction of piles in accordance with this invention,the shell 10 is screwed or fitted on to the tool 11 to any desired degree of tightness, and the two together are inserted into the ground by a water jet or by the impact of a suitably heavy weight 12 inside the tool at the center of gravity of the mass or at the top, or' both simul taneously,' in the usual manner. Since the spiral angle of the screw-thread whereby the tool 11 engages the shell 10 is small, there is virtually no tendency for the. tool to' rotate within the shell and the driving impact is transmitted from the toolthrough the screw-thread 13 or 14 on the tool,'onto the lower surface of the groove 18'or 19 0'11.

lthe,shell,'so that the force is applied to the shell uniformly'along its thread, and there is no tendency to burst or damage the shell;

even though it is not in itself of any great shell has been driven the" strength.

After the I desireddepth, the tool is removed by unscrewing 1t. The frictional grip iof the ground upon the J shell or' the keyed construction aforesaid is suificientto holdit stationary whilst the tool is being un screwed, and when the preferredtapered tool from the shell I sheet-metal shell,'a longitudinal rib may be construction of shell is used, it is necessary If it is desired to remove the shell as well,

using it as a temporary casing. during the filling of the hole with concrete. this may be effected as shown in Figure 7. The shell 10 is fixed to the tool 11 in any convenient manner, as for example by flanging over its upper end and gripping the flange against a collar 20 formed on the tool 11, and then rotating the two together until the shell is loosened in the ground. The tool-may then be disengagedfrom the'shell and itself removed in the manner hereinbefore described, and the shell can subsequently be easily removed by itself during the filling-in of the concrete, since it has been loosened in the soil.

The rotative locking together of the shell I and tool is also useful'if'it is desired to impart some screw rotation to the shell after it has been driven into the ground by impact-or jetting, in order to lock it more securely in place, and give a better grip on the ground, this final operation on. the shell being that of screwing it in like a screwpile. v

If it be not required to remove the shell after it has been driven in, or to give it any of the screwing-in motion above referred to, the shell may be provided with a longitudinal key which will prevent any rotation whilst it is being driven or the tool is being unscrewed and removed. In the con- 1 structions illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive,1a concrete-shell may be constructedin parti-cylindrical sections 21, 22 provided .with longitudinal flanges or ribs 23, 24: respectively extended for the full length of the sections and constitutesuch a key; These flanges moreover, are utilized for securing "the sections together by means of a suitable A shell channel-section piece or clip 25.

thus divided. longitudinally, and transversely,. as at 32 enables 'the'separate parts to be assembled in place during the insertion, of the shell into the ground and permitisec' tions to be added without withdrawing the In the case of a thin formed by lap-welding the sheet longitudinally, and when the keyed construction is not-required, the sheet may be butt-welded. Provision'may also be made-for keying a concrete. pile to the ground by providing openings 26 in the shell as shown 1n Figure 8, so that when'the concrete is filled in to the shell it can pass out through such opening into direct contact withthe ground. It is permissible to provide such openings in the shell, because the shell is adequately supported throughout the length of the thread formed on it, and moreover, the tool, not being-required to be capable of expansion and contraction, has no such moving parts inside it as would be needed if it had to expand and contract. The necessity of excluding grit and moisture does not arise. A further advantage of the provision of these openings 26 is that it is possible to use very thin materials for the shell, since any hydrostatic pressure outside the shellrwill bedbalanced by the entry of water to the in $1 e.

Any suitable means may be provided'for imparting the rotary and lifting motion to the tool, or to .the tool and shell, as hereine before described, and in Figures 1 to 7 there is illustrated a bevel-wheel 29 fast on the upper end of the tool 11 and swivelled in a collar 29 connected to a vertically movable bracket 29". This bevel-wheel is engaged by a pinion 30 driven by any suitable prime-mover through a flexible shaft 31, but any other suitable arrangement may be used instead. i i

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, the tool and shell are constructed to be inserted into the earth by either jetting or impact driving, and for this purpose as shown in Fig. 5, a plug 50 is detachably connected to the lower end of the tool 11*. When this plug is in position, the pipe 51 which conducts the pressure fluid such as water, may be inserted through the tool 11 and its lower end may be connected to the plug 50 by means of a shoulder 52 and a nut 53. To accommodate the jet, the lower end of the shell 10 may be provided with a cap 54 having a thread 55 adapted to engage the external thread 56 of the shell, and this capis perforated at 57 to permit the.

passage of the jet pipe. A tool and shell constructed in this *manner may be readily inserted into the earth when the pressure fluid is discharging from the lower end of thepipe 51. i

To make thisconstruction interchangeable for use in 'jetting or impact driving, the plug :50 maybe replaced or substituted by a solid plug 58, shown in Fig. 6, and the per forated cap 54 may be substituted by an im perforate cap 59, and then the tool and shell may be impact driven.

It will be appreciated that the metal shell hereinbefore described can be made of very light construction, and this, in addition to rendering it inexpensive,.means that the in-' ertia is less so that the driving of the tool and shell is facilitated. The use of the external screw-thread or recesses aforesaid on the shell increases its bearing capacity and the grip which is has on the ground.

This invention also renders it possible to use shells made of materials which would in the ordinary way not be considered as strong enough to be driven by impact; Thus a non-corroding asbestos-cement shell. or a reinforced hollow concrete pile may be driven by impact, provided that the impact is transmitted to the shell or pile through a tool formed with a screw-thread which distributes the impact over the corresponding thread in the shell or, pileas hereinbefore described. Finally, it will be appreciated that in the case of a tapered shell, there is no tendency to burst'it by the wedging action-of the tool, as is ordinarily obtained when the'tool is smooth, or when the tool and shell are both smooth; there is therefore no need to provide heavy and expensive reinforcement to the shell against this detrimental action.

It is to beimderstood that this invention is not limited to the particular constructions hereinbefore described for'obviously many modifications may be made in the mechanical details without departing from the spirit of. the present invention as expressed in the multaneously forcing themembers into soilor the like without rotating either member;

2. Means as claimed in claim 1 in which .the screw thread is of considerably less vertical thickness than pitch.

3. Means as claimed in claim 1 in which the projection of the screw thread laterally is substantially greater than the lateral bodies coming into contact when pressure is exerted on the shell member.

Means for forming piles or the like as claimed in claim '1' in which the shell is formed mainly of masonry material.

- 5. Means for forming piles or the like as claimed in claim 1 in which the shell is provided with a longitudinal external key extending throughout substantially the entire length of the shell.

6. Means for forming piles or the like as claimed in claim 1 in which the shell is divided transversely into a number of sections arranged end to end, each of said sections depth of the groove to prevent the main being provided with an external longitudinal rib extending throughout substantially the entire length of the section, the ribs of vided transversely into a number of sections arrangedend to end, each of said sections being provided with an external rib extend-. ing longitudinally throughout 1 substantially the entire length of the section, the ribs of the sections being arranged in alignment and forming a longitudinal key extending throughout substantially the entire length of the shell, and means connecting the ribs of adjacent sections.

8. Means forforming piles or the like as claimed in claim 1 in which the shell is substantially tubular and consists of longitudinal sections, each section being provided at" its side edges with outwardly extending longitudinal flanges, the flanges of adjacent 9. Means for forming piles or the like as claimed in claim 1 in which said groove in vertical section has a lower surface. onwhich the thread exerts its force in the driving of sections abutting against each other.

said members, the' surface opposite the mouth of the groove being substantially vertical and of greater-height than the thickness of the thread to permit the tool to be readily lifted relatively to the shell me1n'- ber after the latter has been driven.

10. Means for forming piles or the like including a hollow rod-like tool' member provided. on its exterior surface with a.

spiral screw thread and provided interiorly with an anvil arranged a sufiicient distance below the upper end of the tool to permit the upper portion of the tool to act as a guide for a hammer. V

11. Means for forming piles or the like including in-combination a shell member and a rod-like tool member having its upper portion hollow, an anvil arranged withainthetool member below the upper end of the latter, a hammer guidedby the tool memberand arranged to strike said anvil, a collar in which the tool member is rotatably mounted, an external toothed wheel connected to and movable with said tool,

and driving, -mechanism engaging said volutions of 'said thread bein to be unscrewed from the pile after the lattoothed wheel for rotating the tool relative- 56 contacting spiral surfaces to permit the tool -member to force the shell member into the soil when pressure isg exerted on the tool member, the spiral surface ofone of said members being arranged upon a screw thread of less vertical thickness than pitch,

and the portions of the members between the convolutions of said thread being'plain and being spaced apart to reduce" friction.

13. Means for forming piles comprising a concrete shell and a removable .core, said shell and core being provided with cooperating spiral surfaces to force the shell into the ground, the external shape of the shellbeing different from its internal sha e.

- 14. Means for forming-piles or the ike including in combination, a substantially tubular shell member and a rod like tool member, said members having cooperating contacting spiral surfaces to permit the tool member to; force the shell member into the soil whenpressure is exerted on the tool member, the spiral surface on one of said members being arranged on a screw thread 0 of less vertical-thickness than pitch, the portions of the me'mbers,between. the conplain and being spaced apart to .reduce v riction, said 'shellhaving a substantiallycylindrical reg.-' ular outer surface.

15. Means for forming piles or' the like as claimed in claim 12 in which: the shell is formed of concrete and has asubstantially cylindrical plain outersurface.

out filling, the external pressure (of theearth after it is driven, a removable core member arranged in the pile member and adapted. to be driven with the latter, one of said members being provided with a spiral groove and the other with-a thread engaging said groove to permit the core member ter is driven. I s W In testimony whereofi hereunto aflix my signature ALEXANDER G. ROTINOFF. 

